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Tell them the vaccine for not being whalloped with your baseball bat is to shut up about that stupid anti-vaxxer shit and you highly recommend they take that vaccine.
One of the reasons i don't make policy decisions: my solution yo the antivax problem is to develop a bioweapon and a corresponding vaccine. Secretly add the new vaccine into all other vaccines for two years. Warn people that the coming flu season is going to be bad and that a new dangerous strain of covid is spreading to increase vaccination rates. Then deploy the bioweapon. No more antivaxxers.
My mom said basically the same thing, putting a date of 2 years on anyone who got the vaccine. Here we are way past that mark.
She's still a lunatic, and I've been low contact with her for months now.
Oh my god I met a few of those people. Every single person that died they'd say it was the vaccine. Every time a headline about a celebrity that dies "yeah they SAY it was cancer, but they took the vaccine only 6 months ago, know what im saying? Open your eyes!"
Like mate, people aren't just going to stop dying.
A lot of people are saying cut them off, but I have a family member who was into the anti-vax conspiracy theories and kinda still is, but it's much less of a focus now and is pretty obviously just being carried forward by cognitive dissonance at this point. There will never be total victory, but there can be a reasonable truce.
What I'd suggest is the most counter-intuitive strategy - show genuine interest. Say "Ok, I want to know more, but I need you to be specific. Tell me what your theory is and what the evidence is, I'll take my time looking at it, and respond in detail."
Keep in mind, they probably won't pay attention to whatever your respond with. That's ok. The response isn't the point, pinning them down on what they think is. So often these things are purely emotional, and forcing them into a logical framework will make them do the work for you. As for the response, odds are it's some combination of cherry-picked data and spurious correlations, if not outright made up facts. Think of alternate explanations for what they're showing you that are more plausible than a vaccine killing people. And remember that if the vaccine really was killing people, it would be really obvious, not something we need look deep into the matrix to find.
Wow, wasn't expecting a reasonable and emotionally grounded response as one of the top comments.
Keep up the good work my dude.
My sister once tried to come at me with the 5g antenna vaccine thing.
"Do you have a source? That sounds like fox news."
She spent almost an hour on her phone trying to find something credible and then never brought it up again.
I’ve been waiting for over a year now for my dad to send me his source for “the new information that’s come out about the vaccines” when he asked me if I regretted getting it yet…
You're not going to satisfy unmet emotional needs with logical arguments.
So often these things are purely emotional, and forcing them into a logical framework will make them do the work for you.
This is a good point. While I was recruiting, they used to say that people make decisions based on emotion and then later go back and try to use logic to explain why they did it.
I have been also suggesting to these people I meet in the real world that it's probably the micro-plastics that are causing the rise in deaths/autism/whatever bullshit they say. I'm trying to get them to focus on more environmental stuff and blaming companies.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Are people still talking about Covid vaccines? Aren’t there new conspiracies to move onto. How about Biden being a robot?
Just ask them to pass the potato salad.
People who believe in these types of theories usually want to feel part of a club or may just be gullible. Pulling up charts and figures likely will not help as they often dismiss it or change the theory. Listening to them and asking them why they feel that way and where they got the information can cause them to critically think about it and start to form the cracks in the theory. If you think you're getting somewhere, maybe ask why vaccines and not another, more accessible form of medicine.
In this case, it sounds like the family doctor may be the source. Clarify exactly what this doctor said and what they would prescribe instead of a vaccine. It may be something homeopathic or a scam, or something else indicating the doctor is spreading a vaccine lie for their own gain.
If you're getting nowhere, consider if this family member has a history of mental illness. Some disorders make people prone to skepticism and a general mistrust of the world, or cause magical thinking. Schizophrenia, bipolar (manic episodes), and OCD can sometimes be hard to spot.
Unfortunately, it could also be something ego-centered, and being "in" on a theory forms a core part of their identity, separating them from the "sheep". They could be unempathetic to the idea of their actions spreading disease, or annoyed at the idea they have to take action to protect themselves. Based on the number of emotional responses in this thread and the general advice to block them or call them names, this is, sadly, a very likely cause. In this case, the best thing you can do is protect yourself by getting the vaccine that they won't and limit physical contact. It's a very sad reality that this line of selfish thinking has become extremely prevalent since COVID. I also had a vaccine skeptic family member who only gave it up once they caught COVID. They were lucky; take a look at r/DarwinAward to see the damage vaccine denialism causes.
Stay safe OP. I hope there is light for your family member.
Sever ties. I'm sorry.
good idea, i'm sure they'll get better on their own
They likely won't get better. And that's why you cut ties. You can't change the way they view the world. They have to come to that on their own.
It's to my benefit if other people take the time to fix their broken and bigoted family members. I wouldn't recommend someone sever times. Just because you have had experience with stubborn people who can't change doesn't mean most people are like that.
I haven't tried to unbreak anyone because I haven't known any consiratorial thinkers. But I do listen to the QAA podcast, which studies the effects of conspiratorial thinking and interviews researchers and authors and it's pretty clear that only the conspiracy nutter can pull themselves out. No amount of logic can turn them around and it's a form of self-harm to try.
I’ve had about 9 boosters at this point, and my nuts are so swollen from spike proteins that when I go to Walmart, they accuse me of trying to steal basketballs.
You could agree, that there are those internationally trying to kill members of the general public. Not with vaccinations, but with misinformation. Anyone they can convince, has a chance to die. Tell them to not be a stupid lemming.
I knew several people who died from COVID and one died from health complications later. I know my reality, but I guess others may need to face death directly to learn the hard lesson.
I’m on the ONS site and there’s mountains of publications and data on Covid. Which publication did they read?
It's been three years, where are all the bodies? Where are the people crying out for their lost loved ones?
Oh that's right, the ones who died, died of disease and you can talk to their families online and learn about what happened.
Punch them in the fucking face and 300 kick their asses out the door
“I’ll pay for yours if it means you can’t reproduce.”
"More vaccines for me"
I had this problem.
I stopped talking to them.
Agree with them. Tell them that yes indeed there is a deep state that wants to kill as many people as possible by spreading disinformation causing morons not to take the vaccines so more stupid people die. It's eugenics really and very, very heinous. Wait wasn't that what they meant?
You stop speaking to them.
They'll either come to realize that there are real world consequences for being a dumb asshole, like their friends and family abandoning them....or they won't. Either way, you win.
I heard You'll die in six months at Thanksgiving one year.
"Really? Holy fuck, I'm immortal! Call the press! Wait, no, I don't want to be locked in a room and tested for 40 years, maybe we all just keep this our little secret."
I love this popular and ass-backwards depiction of medical research because in reality it's boring af sitting around in some clinic, they probably draw some blood and you're free to go after an hour with a stipend.
I told their grandmother how silly they are.
Straightened them right out. (Happened with my close friends family)
Get the vaccine. Best response.
Disengage and choose your family
Ask for the comparison in excess deaths comparison of vaccinated versus unvaccinated.